Blackberry's Contemplation
by Yueaifeng
Summary: Alice never tasted a sweet blackberry, though it may or may not sway her emotions for the Queen of Hearts. VivaldixAlice. One-shot.


A/N: This one was a request from Hidarichan81. I hope it's to your liking. This one was fun and marked the first of two things; my first written kiss scene and my first shojo-ai story.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't know Japanese, therefor, I do NOT own Heart/Clover/Joker/Anniversary no Kuni no Alice.

**Pre-Fic-Reads:** If you don't like shojo-ai or shonen-ai, get out, please.

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Alice padded quietly through the forest as she headed towards her destination. The magnificent building, which could only be described as a castle of hearts, seemed to glow in the afternoon sky. Soon, the sun would set and night would come. The process seemed quite slow today compared to most other days. The foreigner was quite relieved. She had been invited to the castle for afternoon tea, but she had wanted finish a few errands for Julius first. Unfortunately, Alice had gotten sidetracked by Pierce Villiers, the dormouse, being chased once more by Boris Airay, the Cheshire Cat. Of course, Alice tried to stop Boris which ended in complete chaos. For that, along with having to bandage Boris's wounds and having to calm down Pierce, Alice had been quite late in returning to Clover Tower and giving the items to Julius.

Shaking her head, Alice quickened her pace. She hoped not to be the cause of another execution. After all, the Queen of Hearts did so enjoy beheading people. It apparently relieved stress from the Queen's hectic life. Alice did not quite comprehend how, but it was not her place to question it, nor did she truly wish to know why. Shrugging off the thoughts, she gazed around at the scenery. Her vial of memories was almost full. Her game was almost done. However, Alice didn't seem to feel the emotion called love for any resident of Wonderland. Except, of course, for one person whom was the Queen of Hearts. Alice bit her lip, her heart suddenly lurching and aching. Shaking her head, Alice tried to dispel those thoughts from her mind.

She barely tried to win the Queen's love. After all, the Queen of Hearts, Vivaldi, loved the King of Hearts, right? It had been proven by the plain jealousy Vivaldi had held for the King's mistress. Yet Alice could not help but desire the Queen. It was an aching feeling that took hold of her heart and squeezed her chest painfully. However, the foreigner did her best to try to vanquish these affections. It just hurt too much.

These thoughts were soon pushed to the back of Alice's mind once she reached the Castle of Hearts. Once again, she found herself gawking ever so slightly at the sheer beauty and the ostentatious designs. Yet a maid soon caught sight of her and whisked her away, hurrying poor Alice to the courtyard where Vivaldi sat with Peter White and Ace. No one wished for another execution, not when the day had been so calm and quiet and almost _peaceful._ Not even the Hatters had decided to ruin it by intruding in the Amusement Park and provoking the owner. It had been a quiet, lazy day for once; everyone, besides Boris and Pierce, had been enjoying it while they could. It was a nice, tranquil day that was rare to find and was enjoyed to its potential.

The sun was barely setting, yet even so, the sky was tinged with a hint of orange. Alice smiled as a greeting to Vivaldi when she was suddenly brought down to the ground. She winced as her back hit the ground. Why must Peter White be here of all times? "Alice! I've missed you so much! I'm so happy that-"

The male was abruptly interrupted by the Queen's majestic voice. "White, we demand you to unhand Alice this instant!" The order was firm, but Peter still hesitated, stuttering a few words before Ace laughingly came over to the duo on the ground and tossed the male off of the foreigner. Alice sighed in relief, only to find a pale, slim hand offering aid on getting up to her feet. The brown-haired girl smiled, accepting the hand and thanked the one person whom she thought to be unobtainable in Wonderland. Vivaldi smiled back. "It's been a long time since you last visited us, Alice. It's a pleasure to have you here for the afternoon tea."

Returning the greeting, Alice sat down in a chair beside Vivaldi. Then she caught sight of them. The fruit lay in a lump, many piled on top of each other, creating a sort of mountain-like figure in the crystalline bowl. Her left eye twitched a bit at the sight of the black fruit. Alice was not very fond of blackberries. Their tartness and overall sour taste was an annoyance along with making one dislike them quite a bit. However, the Queen seemed to like them very much as past observations had proved to the brown-haired girl.

"Alice~! I'm so happy you're here with us~!" Her eye twitched once more at the sound of Peter's voice. The rabbit continued to speak and go on and on about how much he loved Alice. He would praise and coo. However, this only further disturbed the silence with its annoyance and Vivaldi visibly became quite fed up of it.

"Ace, take White away from our afternoon tea." The Knight of Hearts nodding, grinning widely as he dragged the poor rabbit, who was begging to be able to stay, away from Vivaldi and Alice. The latter sighed in relief, glad to have the clingy person away from her. She smiled at Vivaldi.

"Thank you, Vivaldi. It's finally quiet." Vivaldi smiled her response as she drank a bit of tea. Alice timidly watched her and imitated what the Queen was doing, if only to hide her sneaking glances. Yet when the Queen gracefully popped a blackberry into the foreigner's mouth, Alice found that the usual bitterness was replaced by a sweet, unique tart taste that left her senses numb for a few seconds. To say that she was surprised at this sudden, nice taste was a complete understatement. Blackberries weren't usually this delicious!

Vivaldi smiled, gently stroking Alice's smooth cheek. "We do adore blackberries as well. Aren't they the most adorable fruit?" It was then Alice noticed that all the maid and soldiers were also missing from the garden. Her heart seemed to skip many beats as she face flushed crimson. She stumbled over her words as she tried to think of an intelligent answer. Instead, she gave up and just nodded. The Queen petted her head. "Did you enjoy the taste?" Alice simply nodded once more. She felt incredibly nervous, yet content. Her heart swelled with a small tinge of hope. Maybe Vivaldi did love her back!

However, Alice felt the emptiness when Vivaldi pulled away, only to pop another black, plump fruit between her red lips. Vivaldi caught sight of Alice watching her and then giggled slightly before pulling the foreigner close to her. "Would you like us to give you another taste?" Alice's face flushed bright red, but she nodded nonetheless.

Smirking slightly, Vivaldi caught Alice's lips in her own. The smaller girl's eyes closed almost immediately, though her lips were a bit hesitant. Perhaps it was from the shock and happiness that pulsed through her or perhaps it was because of the shockingly delicious taste of blackberries that was on the Queen of Hearts' full, red lips.

Yet the taste was slightly addicting, too sweet to be real, for Alice. She responded as well as she could until the two females had to break off for air. However, through her flushed face and slightly embarrassed state, Alice still managed to catch the smile of triumph on Vivaldi's lips. Curious, her head tilted to the side.

"Vivaldi, why is it that you seem so pleased?"

The Queen only smile in response. After a while, she tapped Alice on her hook-like nose. The latter's face scrunched up, finding the feeling slightly ticklish, though her nervousness still remained. "It is because we now know something very important."

"Oh, and what is it?" Alice asked, her curiosity growing on each majestic word.

"Whom we truly love."

"Oh," was all that she could muster after a while. Alice's heart pounded and ached. It must be the King whom Vivaldi loved! She bit her lower lip. "I see. However, how will his Highness, the King respond?"

Vivaldi raised an eyebrow, momentarily confused. "What has the King have to do with our affection for you, unless…" A soft laugh escaped the lips of the Queen. The woman cupped Alice's cheeks before planting a quick peck on her lips. "The one we love is you, Alice Liddell."

Alice's eyes widened at this as a smile slowly formed onto her lips. Before she could register anything, Vivaldi's lips had once more claimed her own. As they shared their love for one another, Alice couldn't help but wonder how she had never noticed the small hints that she now found obvious. Yet it did not matter anymore.

Once they broke off for the second time, considering breathing was quite important when one wished to stay alive, she timidly gazed at Vivaldi. "Uhh, Vivaldi?"

"Yes, Alice?"

"When my vial is full, will you let me stay with you forever?"

"Of course, you are our love."

However, somewhere from behind some bushes, Peter was silently crying. "No, Alice, my love! Why do you abandon me so?" Ace, who was next to him, shook his head, eyes rolling at these sounds before grabbing Peter's chin and capturing the White Rabbit's lips for his own. The white-haired male's eyes widened in shock at the gentle feel of the Knight's lips against his own. Maybe losing Alice wasn't so bad, after all.


End file.
